Study Desk

And he said to them, "Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power." And after six days, Jesus took along Peter and James and John, and led them to a high mountain by themselves alone. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothing became radiant—extremely white, like no cloth refiner on earth can make so white. And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." (For he did not know what he should answer, because they were terrified.) And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!" And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept the matter to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant. And they asked him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And he said to them, "Elijah indeed does come first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that indeed Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him." And when they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. And immediately the whole crowd, when they saw him, were amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" And one individual from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought to you my son who has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes paralyzed. And I told your disciples that they should expel it, and they were not able to do so. And he answered them and said, "O unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!" And they brought him to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately convulsed him, and falling on the ground, he began to roll around, foaming at the mouth. And he asked his father how long it was since this had been happening to him. And he said, "From childhood. And often it has thrown him both into fire and into water, in order that it could destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us!" But Jesus said to him, "If you are able! All things are possible for the one who believes!" Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter into him no more!" And it came out, screaming and convulsing him greatly, and he became as if he were dead, so that most of them said, "He has died!" But Jesus took hold of his hand and raised him up, and he stood up. And after he had entered into the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why were we not able to expel it?" And he said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer." And from there they went out and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples and was telling them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise." But they did not understand the statement, and they were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum. And after he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they were silent, because they had argued with one another on the way about who was greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all." And he took a young child and had him stand among them. And taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of the young children such as these in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me." John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone expelling demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not prevent him, because there is no one who does a miracle in my name and will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you are Christ's, truly I say to you that he will never lose his reward. "And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it is better for him if instead a large millstone is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go into hell—into the unquenchable fire!

And he said to them, "Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power." And after six days, Jesus took along Peter and James and John, and led them to a high mountain by themselves alone. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothing became radiant—extremely white, like no cloth refiner on earth can make so white. And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." (For he did not know what he should answer, because they were terrified.) And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!" And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus alone. And as they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept the matter to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant. And they asked him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And he said to them, "Elijah indeed does come first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that indeed Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him." And when they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. And immediately the whole crowd, when they saw him, were amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" And one individual from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought to you my son who has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes paralyzed. And I told your disciples that they should expel it, and they were not able to do so. And he answered them and said, "O unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!" And they brought him to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately convulsed him, and falling on the ground, he began to roll around, foaming at the mouth. And he asked his father how long it was since this had been happening to him. And he said, "From childhood. And often it has thrown him both into fire and into water, in order that it could destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us!" But Jesus said to him, "If you are able! All things are possible for the one who believes!" Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe! Help my unbelief!" Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter into him no more!" And it came out, screaming and convulsing him greatly, and he became as if he were dead, so that most of them said, "He has died!" But Jesus took hold of his hand and raised him up, and he stood up. And after he had entered into the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why were we not able to expel it?" And he said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer." And from there they went out and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples and was telling them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise." But they did not understand the statement, and they were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum. And after he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they were silent, because they had argued with one another on the way about who was greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all." And he took a young child and had him stand among them. And taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of the young children such as these in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me." John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone expelling demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not prevent him, because there is no one who does a miracle in my name and will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you are Christ's, truly I say to you that he will never lose his reward. "And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it is better for him if instead a large millstone is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go into hell—into the unquenchable fire! And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into hell!

and the two will become one flesh,' so that they are no longer two but one flesh.

And they were bringing young children to him so that he could touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.

And as he was setting out on his way, one individual ran up and knelt down before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?"

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your sins." And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you do these things?" So Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me!" And they began to discuss this with one another, saying, "What should we say? If we say ‘From heaven,' he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, ‘From men'"—they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John as truly a prophet. And they replied to Jesus saying, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

The Triumphal Entry And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village before you, and right away as you enter into it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?' say ‘The Lord has need of it, and will send it here again at once.'" And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those who were standing there said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" So they told them, just as Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut from the fields. And those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" And he went into Jerusalem to the temple, and after looking around at everything, because the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. And on the next day as they were departing from Bethany, he was hungry. And when he saw from a distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he came up to it he found nothing except leaves, because it was not the season for figs. And he responded and said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you any more forever!" And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered into the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple courts, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. And he did not permit anyone to carry objects through the temple courts. And he began to teach and was saying to them, "Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,' but you have made it a cave of robbers!" And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and began considering how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. And as they passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God! Truly I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be done for you. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your sins."

And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the tenant farmers.

And they sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him so that they could catch him unawares in a statement.

But because he knew their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at it!"

And on the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare, so that you can eat the Passover?"

But Jesus did not answer anything further, so that Pilate was astonished.

But the chief priests incited the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas instead.

So Pilate, because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over so that he could be crucified.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.

And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross!" In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes, were mocking him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he is not able to save himself! Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe! Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him. And when the sixth hour came, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") And some of the bystanders, when they heard it, said, "Behold, he is summoning Elijah!" And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Leave him alone! Let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down." But Jesus uttered a loud cry and expired. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who was standing opposite him saw that he expired like this, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!" And there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome, who used to follow him and serve him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who went up with him to Jerusalem. And when it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was also himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came acting courageously and went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion, asked him whether he had died already. And when he learned of it from the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And after purchasing a linen cloth and taking him down, he wrapped him in the linen cloth and placed him in a tomb that had been cut from the rock. And he rolled a stone over the entrance of the tomb. Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was placed.

Jesus Taken to Pilate And as soon as morning came, after formulating a plan, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, tied up Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" And he answered him and said, "You say so." And the chief priests began to accuse him of many things. So Pilate asked him again, saying, "Do you not answer anything? See how many charges they are bringing against you!" But Jesus did not answer anything further, so that Pilate was astonished. Now at each feast he customarily released for them one prisoner whom they requested. And the one named Barabbas was imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the rebellion. And the crowd came up and began to ask him to do as he customarily did for them. So Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?" (For he realized that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) But the chief priests incited the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas instead. So Pilate answered and said to them again, "Then what do you want me to do with the one whom you call the king of the Jews?" And they shouted again, "Crucify him!" And Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?" But they shouted even louder, "Crucify him!" So Pilate, because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over so that he could be crucified. So the soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor's residence) and called together the whole cohort. And they put a purple cloak on him, and after weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on him. And they began to greet him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they repeatedly struck him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and they knelt down and did obeisance to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him. And they forced a certain man who was passing by, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), who was coming from the country, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place Golgotha (which is translated "Place of a Skull"). And they attempted to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots for them to see who should take what. Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him was written, "The king of the Jews." And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.

Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe! Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him.

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased fragrant spices so that they could go and anoint him.

so that you may know the certainty concerning the things about which you were taught.